I’ve always found that topic quite funny.
I find it very amusing when people make decisions based on the answer to the “What’s your star sign?” question.
I’ve met a lot of people, having a lot of different star signs and I can tell you, the odds of them showing specific zodiacal traits are 50-50. Sometimes sagittariuses can be quite quiet and leos can be little pussycats and not all geminis are screamers.
How could the month you were born in influence they way you are, as a person, more than your upbringing, you gene pool and the bad decisions you’ve made in your life?
What about those all-important forming years? I mean when you’re three to five years old. The stuff you do and is done to you then is far more likely to influence or scar you for life. The way you interact with the opposite sex at that age will probably set the tone for the rest of your existence. The speed with which you can learn will show what kind of person you’ll be: smart or stupid.
I’ve been asking myself these questions for a long time, but never so clearly as I did on Friday night. I really have to thank Alex Iovan for putting things into perspective.
The answer I’ve found might suck for the the ones who believe in this smack. Scott Adams pointed out a technique for achieving goals, some time ago. I think it could be used to explain the horoscope and trait matching phenomena.
If you keep reading about what people of your star sign are like, you’ll grow to believe it. It’s called wishful thinking. The horoscope helps too. It’s so vague that it’s right — in some sense — half the time. People just choose to ignore the half the time that it’s so, so wrong. The same with the traits. People choose to ignore the specific traits that do not apply to them, and focus on the ones that do. Then they’ll become increasingly proud to be part of that start sign.
Hi, I’m Horia and I’m a leo, and I couldn’t care less!
8 Exquisite Comments
offtopic: duminica e blogmeet 15. verde.
There is a tiny truth in those zodiacal signs. Our minds and bodies evolve differently because our mothers eat different stuff before we are born, like mothers who are pregnant during summer and spring enjoy the best times with healthy food. The influence of planets might be felt by our brain. Also, our characters can be influenced by drugs (heavy or light) or diseases. Our behavior depends on how the situations we make in every day life, the events that occur. There are so damn many factors, that people just call it magic/astrology. And thing is this accident, influences or events repeat themselves from time to time, from area to area. It’s normal. Hey, I’ve heard people calling some PHP code voodoo, just for the fact it was too big for them to understand
. Heh, my rant.
There’s even a scientific concept related to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_effect
And then there’s a story about a scientist named Michel Gauquelin, who offered to provide individual horoscopes for the readers of a French magazine, his only request being that they would give feedback on the accuracy of his “work”. He thus sent identical horoscopes to thousands of people, out of which 94% appreciated what they received as being very precise. Cherry on top: the horoscope sent was that of a serial killer.
Just to be in sync with the obviousness of it all, I`ll remind you that people desperately need something to believe in, be it religion, superstition, astrology, or a plethora of other things.
That being said, I`ll understand your animosity towards horoscopes when their body count becomes slightly higher.
hmmz…you know…there are more things than meet the eye. haven’t you ever had a feeling of premonition in your life, or other “weird” things? the world is a cogweb of energy sparkling from different places, and since we ourselves are a very sophisticated representation of matter and energy we can be and are influenced by the energy flow around us. such is the case with astronomy. of course not everyone fits, some are better “receivers” than others. some are so good at receiving energy that they actually see it with their own eyes, i`m talking about the people who see other people’s aura. you know, the aura around us is a medical fact, it’s been proven by idontknowwhat device that can read its energy patterns. and since the sun and the moon have the power to move our oceans up and down…think about it.
E rau cand bei. Pe langa ca am uitat numele compozitorului aluia, tocmai mi-am amintit ca mai e ceva ce mi-ai spus si am uitat.
Asta pentru ca-mi tot storc creierii incercand sa-mi dau seama cum se poate vorbi cu tine in timp real.
I think believing that a star sign gives you a full, accurate description of a person is just as dumb as believing that it does not say anything about that person.
Me, I don’t fancy the “european horoscope”, star signs and everything, because they are too generic. Although, I have to admit that some traits I do have of my Cancer fellow.
Yet, a birth chart is a whole different thing and that could be somewhat enlightening, if you are willing to accept it expresses a possibility, a tendency, not 100% accuracy.
Cristina, Thank you for the good read.
ily, I’m sorry the things that make me smile aren’t all life threatening, but I think I’m doin’ ok.
stormrider, I’m not denying auras, or energy flows, or things I don’t understand. I’m just saying that the star sign thingie is all a big joke. Elaborate, but still a joke.
Crinutza, as long as you don’t see your birth chart untill you’re old enough for it to not matter anymore, the birth chart might be right because it will have influenced you to become what it predicted.
Tomata cu scufita, thanks for the pics!